Welcome to "Laurie Here - Contemporary Fiction and MORE - Book Reviews"! Join me and let's escape life into the wonderful world of books getting lost between the covers where the lives of the characters live and their amazing stories take place for a little while! Let's learn about the authors, too! I write "honest" book reviews about my experiences and tell you how the trip was! You may want to follow along with me, too! Leave a comment while you're here, too!

Sunday, May 31, 2015

The international bestseller that “grabs the reader by the throat" (Crime Time).

First in the new series featuring Detective Inspector Helen Grace.

Two people are abducted, imprisoned, and left with a gun. As hunger and thirst set in, only one walks away alive.

It’s a game more twisted than any Detective Inspector Helen Grace has ever seen. If she hadn’t spoken with the shattered survivors herself, she almost wouldn’t believe them.

Helen is familiar with the dark sides of human nature, including her own, but this case—with its seemingly random victims—has her baffled. But as more people go missing, nothing will be more terrifying than when it all starts making sense....

CHAPTER ONE

Sam is asleep. I could kill him now. His face is turned from me—it wouldn’t be hard. Would he stir if I moved? Try to stop me? Or would he just be glad that this nightmare was over?

I can’t think like that. I must try to remember what is real, what is good. But when you’re a prisoner, the days seem endless and hope is the first thing to die.

I rack my brains for happy memories to hold off the dark thoughts, but they are harder and harder to summon.

We’ve been here only ten days (or is it eleven?), yet normal life already seems a distant memory. We were hitching back from a gig in London when it happened. It was pouring rain and a succession of cars had sailed past without a second look. We were soaked to the skin and about to turn back when finally a van pulled over. Inside, it was warm and dry. We were offered coffee from a flask. Just the smell of it was enough to cheer us up. The taste was even better. We didn’t realize it would be our last taste of freedom.

When I came to, my head was pounding. Blood coated my mouth. I wasn’t in the warm van anymore. I was in a cold, dark space. Was I dreaming? A noise behind me made me start. But it was only Sam stumbling to his feet.

We’d been robbed. Robbed and dumped. I scrambled forward, clawing at the walls that enclosed us. Cold, hard tiles. I crashed into Sam and for a brief moment held him, breathing in that smell I love so much. Then the moment passed and we realized the horror of our situation.

We were in a disused diving pool. Derelict, unloved, it had been stripped of the boards, signs and even the steps. Everything that could be salvaged had been. Leaving a deep smooth tank that was impossible to climb out of.

Was that evil shit listening to our screams? Probably. Because when we finally stopped, it happened. We heard a mobile phone ringing and for a brief, glorious moment thought it was someone coming to rescue us. But then we saw the phone’s face glowing on the pool floor beside us. Sam didn’t move, so I ran. Why did it have to be me? Why does it always have to be me?

“Hello, Amy.”

The voice on the other end was distorted, inhuman. I wanted to beg for mercy, explain that they’d made a terrible mistake, but the fact that they knew my name seemed to rob me of all conviction. I said nothing, so the voice continued, relentless and dispassionate:

“Do you want to live?”

“Who are you? What have you done to u—?”

“Do you want to live?”

For a minute, I can’t reply. My tongue won’t move. But then:

“Yes.”

“On the floor by the phone you’ll find a gun. It has one bullet in it. For Sam or for yourself. That is the price of your freedom. You must kill to live. Do you want to live, Amy?”

I can’t speak. I want to vomit.

“Well, do you?”

And then the phone goes dead. Which is when Sam asks:

“What did they say?”

Sam is asleep beside me. I could do it now.

MY TAKE:

5 STARS!

#EENYMEENY has been by FAR one of the BEST and most memorable psychological thrillers/crime procedural I have read in a very LONG time! Even the crime procedures did not slow me down from reading like some books do. Honestly, there is only one other psychological thriller/crime procedural I have loved as much as I did this one! I don't believe I will be forgetting this one ANY time soon! I LOVED this book!

This is Book One in the Inspector Detective Helen Grace novels. (This is GREAT - there are more to come! This October comes Book Two, "Pop Goes the Weasel", and in the back of this book, we get to read the first 3 Chapters of that book!)

This is one of those you absolutely CANNOT put down! When I say this, I am not just saying it! I read this ALL the way through in ONE sitting! It is that fast paced, addicting, so well written the pages FLY BY before you even realize you are halfway through the book already! You won't be disappointed!

Although, this book is NOT for the faint of heart! There are some pretty gruesome scenes, and 'one' of the worst, (yet there are even more) so you are prepared going into this, is the captives were going to eat a rat due to the starvation they were suffering from. There are some even more graphic scenes to this book than that, so don't say I didn't warn you. For some reason, these didn't bother me at all. I knew they had to do what they did because of what was going on to these captives. There are a few sexual scenes, too, but they fit in with the characters' lives.

So just what would you do if you were Amy and Sam? You were stuck in the bottom of a diving pool, had one cell phone with the 'low battery' sign on, and one gun? The phone rings, and you hear a message. You hear it and can't believe what you hear! They tell you in order for ONE person to survive, there is ONE bullet in the gun. One of you must use it. The phone goes dead. So now it's either you or the other person, but it's guaranteed ONLY ONE PERSON WILL SURVIVE! What would you do? Would you be willing to KILL to get out and be the survivor? Or do you want to die, now? In fact, one of the couples who get caught actually say, 'Eeny, meeny, miny, moe'! Nail biting!

This continues to happen to more pairs of people in the Southampton area in London. There is no rhyme or reason as to 'who' this killer has chosen or why these two people are together. This is a serial killer on the loose. Helen, a very strong character, and the rest of her police force are on duty 24/7, and they are only going home to eat, shower, grab a few winks, and they are back at the station or wherever they may need to be. Helen finds out one of her people on the team is a raving alcoholic, so not only does she have this case to handle, she has him to deal with, too. Even so, they are trying to find a clue, ANY clue, but are not left with much. I liked Helen Grace, the Inspector Detective. The book really gets into her personal life and explains things as to why she acts the way she does at times. It's always good to know this right when something happens to a character instead of dragging it out into the next book, or worse, the one after that. Nope. This author tells us immediately what the driving behavior is behind each character right away as thing happened. I like that a lot in an author.

Is the book perfect? No, no book is! There were a few mistakes. I really can't say exactly what, though, as I was reading the galley from NetGalley, the uncorrected advanced copy, so there were things I had to ignore if I came across them as I knew this was not the finished copy, but I have to say there were not many at ALL! I did read a few reviews, and a few people mentioned a few things, but I wonder if they read the finished copy or the galley? I don't know? All I know is I LOVED this book! As I said above, the writing was so good, it kept me glued to the page, and time just flew by! I was completely absorbed in this book! I would have to say this is probably the fastest book I have EVER read!

I want to thank Penguin Group Berkley NAL and NetGalley for giving me the wonderful opportunity to read and review this book while giving my honest opinion about it! Thank YOU!

This book releases on Tuesday, June 2nd!

WANT TO WIN '1' #PRINT COPY OF THIS BOOK? YOU CAN!

Just leave your NAME AND EMAIL in the Comments below! You have until Friday, June 12th to enter! I will announce the WINNER on June 12th in my weekly column of the #NYTIMES Top 20 #Bestseller Post I do each Sunday on June 14th! I will use random.org to choose the winner! If, while you are here, you would like to visit my Facebook page and LIKE it, Twitter, Pinterest, Google Page, or Follow my blog, please feel free to do so!

About this author

M.J. Arlidge has worked in television for the last 15 years, specialising in high end drama production. Arlidge has produced a number of prime-time crime serials for ITV In the last five years, and is currently working on a major adaptation of The Last of the Mohicans for the BBC.

You can follow this author @MJArlidge on Twitter!

Also, make sure to follow the hashtag of #EENYMEENY while you are on Twitter! Enjoy!

5 comments:

I saw this on another blog the other day and my friend told me to get it. She really enjoyed it and it's definitely my kind of reading. Crossing fingers, toes, eyes, and everything else I can to win. LOL

I LOVE Comments so please leave one! After I review the comments and make sure they are NOT SPAM - I HAVE BEEN BOMBARDED WITH SPAM - YOUR COMMENTS WILL BE PUBLISHED HERE! Thanks SO MUCH for your patience and for leaving a comment!!! Comments are ALWAYS welcomed, YET THEY WILL NOT LINK TO GOOGLE+ EITHER DUE TO THE AMOUNT OF SPAM!!! When I say this blog is experiencing SPAM, we are talking 30+ comments PER DAY that are spam! Please understand!! Again, thank you!!

KINDLE DAILY DEAL

My button! TAKE IT!

CELEBRATE "WORLD RARE DISEASE DAY 2016!" Look 4 this hashtag! #WRDD

Every February! I'M SOOOO EXCITED FOR THIS DAY! I'M CELEBRATING "STIFF PERSON SYNDROME!" Please come back in February to celebrate with me! Maybe YOU have a rare disease? MORE INFO TO COME!

Bringing AWARENESS to Stiff Person Syndrome - a 1 in a MILLION disease! This is my life!

"RARE, BUT STRONGER TOGETHER!" RARE DISEASE DAY this every February! Come join us!

Help and Join US in the FIGHT AGAINST these RARE DISEASES that take OVER our lives and RULE them with NO CURES! Help on ANY DAY OF THE YEAR! We NEED "YOU!" Even if it's only a $5 tax deductible amount, it helps! We are NOT thought of because so few people suffer from these, so money is NOT allocated to these battles we fight daily, all day. Thank "YOU" SO VERY MUCH!! Click on the photo!

2016 Goodreads Reading Challenge!

Link-up HERE each week for ALL things bookish!

Book Blogger Directory/Will show for 2016

This is strictly a Book Blog and is NOT an income-producing blog - it's my obsession with books!

I want to clarify this blog is a BOOK BLOG and only advertizes books! It does NOT advertize ANY products of ANY type, nor do I earn ANY income from this blog. This blog is done out of the pure LOVE I have for BOOKS!

A blog is a healthy creative outlet for anyone! I am Totally and Permanently Disabled (I am unable to work for an employer) due to a very rare neurological muscle disease I have called Stiff Person Syndrome, and this is one of the very FEW things I 'am' able to do 'when' I can, on my time, my terms!

This blog is for everyone who enjoys books, to enjoy them! Be careful, though, because I've found I have a BOOK OBSESSION! LOL!

With that being said, I do ask you do NOT advertize your products on this blog. They WILL BE DELETED! I think this IS ONLY FAIR.

If you want to learn MORE 'About Me', please click that TAB up above!

Thank you.

Laurie

My Ratings

I write HONEST "opinions" on ALL the books I read. I am NOT persuaded in ANY way as to 'how' I should rate a book. This is "my" rating system. These are 'my opinions', and 'mine alone' and IN the genres I like to read.

5 - Stars!- MASTERPIECE! BRAVO! Brilliant! TRULY the BEST OF THE BEST! Outstanding! Amazing! Divine! Excellent! CONGRATULATIONS TO THE AUTHOR! This is a MUST-READ, CAN'T PUT IT DOWN!

4.5 Stars! - Just short of being a Masterpiece! Wow! Excellent! GREAT! SUPERB! SO Good! Must-Read! Don't miss this! Just short of a masterpiece!

Read the book before the movie! Take the pledge! Click on it!

I DON'T BELIEVE IN BANNING "ANY" BOOK!

READ A BANNED BOOK TODAY!

YOU KNOW THE CONTROVERSY

WILL BE WORTH IT, "IF" IT EVEN

STILL APPLIES TODAY! YOU DECIDE

AND ADD IT IN YOUR REVIEW!

Make sure to:

So you know and so you CAN blog with integrity, the definition of "Integrity" by the Oxford Dictionary is as follows:
"the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles; moral uprightness"

COPYRIGHT

I retain the copyright for ALL the content on this Blog unless otherwise stated.Please do NOT reproduce anything without my written consent.Thank you.